Vt. man pleads guilty in high-profile killing

Michael Jacques now admits to killing Brooke Bennett in 2008

After finally hearing an admission of guilt from the man who took their little girl from them more than five years ago, family members of Brooke Bennett said nothing to reporters Tuesday as they left federal court in Burlington, Vt. Tuesday. "No comment," one of Bennett's loved ones told New England Cable News. "Not yet."

Bennett was the Braintree, Vt. 12-year-old who was kidnapped, raped, and strangled to death in 2008 by her uncle, Michael Jacques, a convicted sex offender. The crime shocked the state and spurred action. Vermont lawmakers mandated stricter punishments for people who sexually victimize children, and gave investigators more resources to fight the crimes.

Under law, news cameras are barred from federal court, but a NECN reporter was in the courtroom. He said many in the room found it emotional and disturbing as the government outlined the details of its case against Jacques: how he lured, raped, and murdered Bennett, buried her body, then planted bogus evidence to try to throw detectives off his trail. Many of those details are too gruesome to be discussed on NECN.

When U.S. District Court Judge William Sessions asked Jacques if that perverse plot was true, the 47-year-old responded simply, "I'm afraid it is, sir."

The legal team for Michael Jacques had a brief message for the victim's family. "We're sorry," attorney David Ruhnke said. "And they're entitled to feel the way they feel."

As part of the plea deal, Jacques is agreeing to a life sentence, promising to never file any appeals. He should essentially never be heard from again. "It's finality, there are no appeals," Ruhnke told reporters gathered outside the court. "The case is over for all intents and purposes, and Mr. Jacques is simply going to go to prison for the rest of life. And things are over."

In exchange, federal prosecutors will not pursue the death penalty that had originally been approved for the case. Opponents of capital punishment cheered that move. "Going through a death penalty trial is really painful for everybody involved," said Allen Gilbert of the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, a group that has long opposed capital punishment. "It's actually more expensive to go through a death penalty trial and appeal and execution than it is to lock someone away from the rest of his or her life."

A sentencing hearing has not been set, but under the terms of the plea deal, that hearing may just be a formality.

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